Examining Attorney Lee-Anne Berns says there’s a “likelihood of confusion”

Apr 1, 2013 07:50 GMT  ·  By

An examining attorney at the US Patent & Trademark Office has refused Apple’s iPad mini trademark application citing a “likelihood of confusion.” However, it isn’t clear what confusion Berns is talking about.

Patenly Apple says the USPTO's examining attorney, Lee-Anne Berns, is refusing Apple's “iPad mini” trademark application as “identities such as IP Application Development and Marc Angell have applied for the ‘iPad’ trademark in 2010 under applications 77923051 and 77913563 respectively and therefore there's a ‘likelihood of confusion between these marks’.”

However, Apple generally provides the USPTO with all the necessary specifications and graphics to back up their trademark intentions and, in the case of the iPad mini, the situation hasn’t been any different. Apple has reportedly provided the USPTO with the official iPad mini product page, located at http://www.apple.com/ipad-mini/overview/ (also displayed above).

However, “this aggressive examiner is claiming that the specimen for the ‘iPad Mini’ […] isn't valid,” according to the patent-centric site.